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Obama outlines counterterrorism policy

U.S. drones over the Middle East region

Both the military and the CIA use armed drones in surveillance and strike operations around the world. The military uses them routinely in war zones, while the CIA uses unmanned planes in top-secret operations to track and kill insurgents in the border regions of Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Estimates from independent groups on U.S. drone strikes and deaths:

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Primary drones

2

Estimated deaths

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Number of UAVs

Department of Defense, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and International Institute for Strategic Studies

Janet Loehrke and Anne Carey, USA TODAY

David Jackson, USA TODAY
7:34 p.m. EDT May 23, 2013

President Obama speaks about his administration's drone and counterterrorism policies, as well as the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, at the National Defense University in Washington, May 23, 2013.(Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images)

Story Highlights

Obama announces new limits on drone strikes against overseas targets

He also discussed how the terrorist threat has changed

Speech comes a day after administration revealed that drone strikes have killed four Americans

WASHINGTON — President Obama outlined tighter rules for drone strikes and renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison on Thursday, while calling on policymakers to rethink the nation's battle against terrorism.

The president discussed the war in Afghanistan, the attack on Benghazi and ongoing investigations of national security news leaks, and questioned the concept of the "global war on terror" that has prevailed since the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," Obama said during a 59-minute speech at National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

"But this war, like all wars, must end," he added. "That's what history advises. That's what our democracy demands."

Congress also needs to act, Obama said. He called on lawmakers to loosen restrictions on moving Gitmo prisoners to the United States, approve more money for security of U.S. facilities overseas, and eventually repeal the 2001 authorization of military action that promotes "a perpetual wartime footing" and may give presidents too much power.

"We are still in a long, drawn-out conflict with al-Qaeda," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost the 2008 presidential election to Obama. "To somehow argue that al-Qaeda is quote 'on the run' comes from a degree of unreality that to me is really incredible."

McCain also said that he and others would work with Obama to find "common ground" for "both our counterterrorism objectives and our highest values as a nation of laws."

The president spent much of his speech on two counterterrorism projects that have drawn sharp attacks from civil libertarians, drone strikes and the Guantanamo Bay prison.

President Obama outlined his counterterrorism plan in a speech where he defended drone strikes and closing Guantanamo Bay prison.

Under a new set of rules, Obama said drone attacks will be confined to suspects "who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people," and who cannot otherwise be captured. "Before any strike is taken," he said, "there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured — the highest standard we can set."

The speech came a day after the Obama administration revealed that drone strikes have killed four Americans, all terrorist suspects, in counterterrorism operations since 2009. Obama defended the strike that killed American-born Anwar al-Awlaki, calling him a terrorist leader who "was continually trying to kill people."

Obama also defended drone strikes in general, saying they "have saved lives" by eliminating terrorists, and are a legal part of a "just war" against terrorist organizations.

There have been civilian casualties that "haunt" him and his chain of command, Obama said, but that risk must be balanced against the threat from terrorist groups that are specifically targeting civilians. "Doing nothing is not an option," he said.

The president also stressed that members of Congress have been apprised of every drone strike and that he is open to the possibility of some sort of independent oversight, such as a special court or a review panel.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized some of Obama's anti-terrorism actions, said the president sounded good notes on drones and Gitmo during his speech, but has to follow through.

Obama "is right to say that we cannot be on a war footing forever," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "But the time to take our country off the global warpath and fully restore the rule of law is now, not at some indeterminate future point."

In describing his plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Obama said he is lifting his own moratorium of transferring detainees to Yemen. He also said a new senior envoy will be appointed to talk with other nations about taking in prisoners. There are currently 166 detainees at Gitmo.

Obama had pledged to close the facility during his first year in office. But his efforts ran afoul of congressional Republicans who opposed trials of terrorism suspects in the United States, and of other countries that refused to take some prisoners.

Some detainees at the prison, meanwhile, are in the midst of a hunger strike, protesting their conditions.

In his speech, Obama called on Congress to lift some of those restrictions, and to establish a facility in the United States for detention and military trials of some Gitmo suspects.

Obama won applause from the crowd when he said, "There is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened."

The Gitmo and drone discussions also drew the shouts of at least one protester, forcing Obama at one point to say: "Let me finish."

Obama later said the woman's protests reflected the fact that "these are tough issues."

GOP members of Congress said U.S. trials of Gitmo detainees would invite terrorist attacks. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Obama's "renewed and ill-conceived push to close Guantanamo threatens the security of U.S. citizens at home and abroad."

The president's call to increase the security budget for facilities overseas stems from the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. building in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

Congressional Republicans are investigating the Obama administration over Benghazi, claiming officials tried to cover up the involvement of a terrorist organization and were unprepared for such an attack.

Obama also urged Congress to approve a federal "shield law" that would help reporters protect confidential sources. The proposal comes amid news of a Justice Department seizure of records from the Associated Press and Fox News in connection with investigations of news leaks.

Obama said he respects the need for investigative journalism because it helps hold government accountable. He also said the government has to strike a balance between press freedom and the need to protect sensitive national security information.

In the meantime, Obama said he asked Attorney General Eric Holder to review the Justice Department guidelines on investigations that involve reporters. Holder is scheduled to report back to the president by July 12.

Although Obama did not call predecessor George W. Bush by name, he did criticize some Bush counterterrorism proposals, including treatment of detainees and what he called "torture." Obama said his administration changed many of those policies, and has improved its relations with other nations, particularly in the Muslim world.

The threat of terrorism still exists, Obama said, citing Benghazi, the April bombings at the Boston Marathon and the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. But the nature of the threat has changed since 2001, he said.

The al-Qaeda organization that carried out 9/11 has been severely damaged, Obama said, including the death of leader Osama bin Laden during a U.S-led raid into Pakistan in 2011. New dangers come from al-Qaeda affiliates, localized extremist groups and homegrown terrorists.

While no president can promise "the total defeat of terror," Obama said the nation can "dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend."

That battle requires more than military action and law enforcement, he said, citing better diplomacy with other nations, intelligence sharing, more foreign aid and efforts to seek peace in the Middle East.

"Force alone cannot make us safe," Obama said.

In many ways, Obama's national security speech was a follow-up to his Feb. 12 State of the Union Address in which he pledged to be more open regarding his counterterrorism policies.

That night, Obama said that "in the months ahead, I will continue to engage with Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world."